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Marsh Creek, Boundary Road & MF Salmon High water....

33K views 85 replies 35 participants last post by  Nickdanger 
#1 ·
Kyle Irby hiked in to 2 miles below the confluence of Bear Valley and Marsh from Hiway 21.

https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0o5oqs3q4b3FC

This is what he had to say about it, but the pictures still show some rather significant strainers in the photos. And there are still five or six miles of river below these photos that can hold some surprises as well.

"I hiked Marsh Creek from 21 to 2 miles below the confluence with Bear where the trail ends in the river right cliff wall yesterday afternoon. May 7th.
There are no significant strainers or debris as of yesterday. There are some trees but there is always another channel open. There was some evidence of avalanche activity but nothing new blocking the channel. I did not scout the section from 100 yards below 21 to roughly 1/4 above the gauging station on Marsh due to fading light." - Kyle Irby.

Thank you Kyle. YMMV.
 
#2 ·
Trip and Wood report from some guys that were just in there:

So, we put in for our MF trip on Fri morning (may 5) on highway 21, took out last night at Cache Bar. Had flows between 7-8 ft @ MF lodge. Here's the comprehensive, river-level wood report as of now. Keep in mind things will likely be changing in there and more logs may appear as the water drops.

Putin: I recommend putting in on the little creek on the south side of the highway (right side if coming from boise) and floating under the road. There is an unrunnably low bridge that would cause real problems if you put in on the wrong channel on the north side of the road. Putting in on the south side avoids this hazard. The bridge on the north side that people typically put in at when there is less snow was no problem to duck, but you might want to check on that if the flow is over 7 feet just to be sure.

Early stretches: No *significant* wood in the uppermost sections--there are lots of angled pokers, but skilled kayakers and rafters should not have a problem getting around most of the stuff above the pack bridge. Fish trap was out of way on left side.

Pack bridge: there are a RIVER-WIDE log and then a CHANNEL-WIDE log maybe a quarter mile below the pack bridge where the trail crosses to the right side of the river. The riverwide is new this year, aligned perpendicularly to the flow with lots of branchy goal-post-style uprights, and the water was just high enough to go over it. We were able to stop in a small eddy (might be difficult for more than maybe one raft to hit this eddy) to scout, then ran between two of the longer uprights on the right side. Prevalence of uprights means this one is probably a mandatory raft-portage. Will probably be a portage for kayaks too when the flow drops. The channel-wide log is a bend or two downriver where the river divides into two channels that both bend right, the left of which runs along a short rock wall. Last year I remember boofing the log far left along the rock wall. It wasn't very clean and I remember some people getting tangled/hit by branches and having some excitement. This year we noticed that the right channel was clear and had enough water to run, so we were able to avoid it altogether. Not sure if the right channel will remain runnable if the flow drops or whether a raft could make the pull to the right even if it is, so beware.

Big hole: You'll want to scout the only real horizon-line on Marsh; I think some people call it Big Hole or something like that, and it comes up just a few minutes before the confluence with Bear Valley Creek. It's a right-bending rapid with a rock wall on the left, a leaning poker-log angling out above the rapid from river right. There's a good eddy and scout on river right, flat and forested. There were three new logs here, all of which are leaning out into the current from river right, that could really cause problems if you typically run right here, like I do. You can avoid them by running this rapid far left and cutting back to the right between two holes, but you'll want to see it first and this is a rapid people should probably always scout because this rapid is narrow, steep and tends to collect wood.

Middle Fork Proper: Nothing to speak of on the MF proper (just some contained, easily-avoidable jams) until Dagger, where two large logs are solidly locked into place just above the falls. You can get a good look from the pack bridge above dagger. When we arrived to camp there, the logs made dagger unrunnable. By the next morning, there was enough water we probably could have carried back up and ran it if we were so motivated. We weren't. No stationary logs on the entire MF below Dagger. I say stationary because as it rose the river became filled with telephone-pole-size logs that would float by every minute or so. We started classifying them as "a mere branch," "juicy," or "meaty," depending on their length, girth and overall attitude. BTW, filter water from side creeks until the silt starts dropping out, or use alum and let settle first. The MF itself was definitely a filter-clogger, and larger creeks like Marble Ck, Loon and Camus looked like heavily creamed coffee. Big Ck surprisingly wasn't running very high; maybe it already flushed?

Have fun out there. Again, the look situation could change a lot in the next few weeks, so stay on your toes!
 
#9 ·
Boundary Creek Road comparisons

I have a few photos those who are contemplating getting into Boundary may want to see.

When the turnoff at the hiway looked like this last year on May 14th, 2016



This was up at the top of Fir Creek Summit three miles away.







This was on the way in about a mile from the summit.



2007 We made it in pretty easily on May 13th.



2008 May 3rd, 2008. I don't think the road opened until the 3rd or 4th week of May.



2009 May 25th, 2009. We didn't float until mid June this year. I think the road opened first week of June or last part of May.



2011 June 14th, 2011.

This was June 12th, 2011. About a mile in. I ended up walking all the way to the top but was really concerned about making it in. Two days later we did.
13 inches of SWE that year but the crew came ready to dig.



After multiple passes Jim got the Expedition in too.

 
#10 ·
Boundary Road continued.

June 14, 2011.

My Explorer had to be towed in, 4wd and clearance issues.



2013 Was an epic.

May 11, 2013 - right at the turnoff but just past the signs. I got stuck about a mile in. Clearance.



Then someone came along and we took a drive to the top. Probably took almost three hours. Lots of shoveling.



Some chainsaw work was done. Still a mile to go.



The Summit.
 
#18 ·
Anyone planning on heading down Marsh this week?

We're tentatively planning a Thursday run. Kayaks out front of a few very light cats all radioed together. May make the turn if the water is right but it will probably be a last minute call.

Will post creek/wood conditions with photos when we're off.
 
#19 ·
The road typically won't be open until the SWE at Banner is around 9". The last few days it's been averaging about .733" loss of SWE per day. At that rate, The road would be passable in 13-14 days. That would put the road open around June 4-5th. Even when the SWE is around 9", there may still be individual drifts that will need to be cleared so plan accordingly. The flows around that date could easily be in the 8' range on the gauge. If the weather warms it would melt faster but the flows would also likely spike with it.
 
#20 ·
1/2 melt data will help predict the peak flow in average years. It won't necessarily correspond to the road opening. This year being above average the peak is more likely to be around 65% melted or (14.4" SWE). That said,it may well peak in the middle of next week around 5/31 or 6/1 if we continue to lose SWE at an average rate of .73" per day.
https://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/ftpref/states/id/webftp/snow-stream/mfsalmon_halfmelt.gif
 
#21 ·
Ron updated the recession comparison today.

As far as the melt rate of .77 on the SWE. Yes a couple days have that or a little more. Another cool down coming in a few days and if you look at the last week the SWE has only diminished by 3 inches for the last 7 days.

https://wcc.sc.egov.usda.gov/report...EQ::value,SNWD::value,PREC::value,TOBS::value

So yes it could be open by late in that first week of June, and it may very well be and yes on the large flow that will be coming down.
But your math is wonky brother. 14 days of .77 inches per day is somewhere around 10 inches or bringing it down to about 16 inches of SWE. I have made it at around 13 before and that was no easy task and who knows what the slides on the other side of Fir Creek have left for trees. Bring a chainsaw if you are going to try......
 

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#23 ·
WOW! There is a ton of snow. Thanks for posting the pic. Looks like the next two weekends are definitely out for driving in.

Remember that year when the road didn't open until July....2017 I think it was. Oh yeah, that was the year the outfitters almost went broke flying all their trips into Indian.
 
#25 ·
You're right about my wonky math! Sorry about that! I should have divided the 18.9" SWE that we need to lose by .77" per day. (I accidentally multiplied instead) That moves our road opening to a lot closer to 24-25 days out from yesterday. which makes an open road more likely to be around June 14-15. That tends to jive with the large snow amounts still being reported.

It would also push the peak back to around June 8. Of course warmer or cooler weather will change things as well.
 
#27 ·
Middle Fork at almost 8 ft. Makes my heart go thump. Just remember trees are coming down and there wasn't much clearance on the bridge at 7 feet if you are thinking of Marsh. I know I am, but I am dumb like that and have to much to do to.....really....well....maybe a three day.....
 
#33 ·
Boundary creek rd access

If anyone is working on getting into the Boundary creek boat launch we are going in 5/27 via atv, early morning if anyone wants to help dig in. Marsh creek has a few big strainers as well. Below velvet falls there is a river wide strainer that you must portage around. You will not be able to avoid if you run Velvet falls (washed out). From Boundary Creek put in as far as you can see is snow free.
 
#37 ·
If anyone is working on getting into the Boundary creek boat launch we are going in 5/27 via atv, early morning if anyone wants to help dig in. Marsh creek has a few big strainers as well. Below velvet falls there is a river wide strainer that you must portage around. You will not be able to avoid if you run Velvet falls (washed out). From Boundary Creek put in as far as you can see is snow free.
Velvet Falls doesn't usually wash out at 7.5 feet or 8 feet for that matter.

Maybe you mean something different.
 
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